Southern California -- this just in

MTA proposes cuts to bus service

Under new proposals aimed at cutting costs and making the system more efficient, transit officials are planning to slash Los Angeles' overall bus service by 12%.

Nine routes are set to be eliminated in June and 11 more would be cut back.

The series of reductions by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority comes after a federal judge ended a decade-long consent decree five years ago. The decree gave a court-appointed special master oversight over how the agency managed its bus service, which now accounts for about 80% of Metro's total 1.4 million average weekday boardings.

During the decree, Metro actually increased bus service and reduced fares, and bus ridership steadily rose. But Metro officials say the restrictions forced them to offer an artificially high level of service that they can no longer afford.

If approved, the cuts would drop Metro's peak fleet to about 1,900 buses — 400 fewer than it operated during the height of the decree.